


Chrysanthemum

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, Alpha Laura Hale, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe- Werewolves are still a thing, Bartender Stiles Stilinski, Deputy Derek Hale, Fae Stiles Stilinski, Flower Crowns, Fluff, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Meet-Cute, Private Investigator Stiles Stilinski, Stiles Stilinski Cooks, sbflowercrowns, sterekbingo, sterekbingo2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-03 20:38:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14577177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: At the Sheriff's annual cook-out, his son and his newest deputy are both somewhat alone, Stiles is lamenting over some vague heartbreak from the night before and Derek was as much of a social butterfly as... well.. amoth, luckily for him they end up finding eachother- meaning neither of them will be any the wiser to him stealing an extra strip of bacon





	Chrysanthemum

**Author's Note:**

> I love faery!Stiles, I need to write him more often honestly

The sheriff knew his son

He knew his son _well_

And all it took for him to know that something was inherently wrong with his child was a single look, semi-early in the morning as he walked down the stairs and spotted his son sitting at the table, staring listlessly into a bowl of cereal

"Alright Kiddo, what's the matter?"

He didn't even look up from his cereal- this _had_ to be serious

"Stiles?" he asked slowly

"Nothing Dad, I'm fine,"

Yeah, and the sky was _yellow_

"Alright, who broke your heart?"

Stiles sputtered, a clearly annoyed look on his face as he stared up at his father in frustration, milk from the cereal dripping down from his chin

"Why do you just ASSUME-"

"Because I know the face of heartache Stiles, it's the same face you made when Lydia Martin rejected you- ya'   
know... the last, most permanent time- the same face you made when Scott went to college, the same face you made when that penpal in England quit writing-"

"Thanks Dad, I get it, my track record in broken hearts coud match Sam Winchester's,"

The sheriff frowned, heaving a quiet sigh and feeling his shoulders sag as he moved closer to his son

"That isn't what I meant and you know it, I'm just saying.... everytime somebody hurts you in some way you have the same look to you, it's not hard to guess,"

Stiles knew that- his father _knew_ that he knew that-, but he was in a rotten mood and just not prepared to have the sting of his problem rubbed in any deeper

"Cheer up son," the sheriff attempted, clapping a hand down on Stiles' shoulder in what he hoped was a somewhat comforting gesture

"I'm gonna need your help preparing for the station cook out later, you're making some stuff to take over right?"

Stiles looked... oddly sheepish at that, wich filled his father with dread

Stiles was a pretty blunt and honest person, if he was being shy then the reason must be pretty.... concerning....

Slowly, the younger man stood up from the table, shuffling over to the fridge and clearing his throat as he opened the door

Suddenly, the sheriff knew why he was acting so strangely

The refrigerator was.... **_packed_** with containers of food for the cookout....

Coleslaw, potato salad, garden salad, ceaser salad, cold mini sandwiches (why...?), stuffed mushrooms, stuffed peppers, pepper poppers, an ENORMOUS vegetable platter and an equally big fruit platter (each hand prepared), homemade banana pudding, cookies, homemade lemonade, jello- and he wasn't even done yet!

He immediately turned to Stiles and glared, at this point not even sure if he should wonder how long Stiles had been down here making this crap, he had a feeling he didn't really want to know

Suddenly, as if to pop the bubble of tension that was forming, the kitchen timer went off

"Oh! My homemade potato chips are done,"

"STILES!"

 

~+~

 

"But WHY am I not allowed to touch the grill?"

Stiles knew why, and the way his father glared at the table of non-grillable items in the back was definitely enough of a response if he _didn't_ , but he just didn't think it was fair

"Son, this grill is the only thing I ever get to cook on-"

"It's the only thing you CAN cook on, to be fair,"

"-and because of _you_ I only get to use it a few times a year, I'm not letting you take that away from me,"

"Hey, nobody is stopping you from putting a nice eggplant or something on there you know, tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini... all great choices!"

His father looked like he had been _slapped_

" _Zucchini_? Zucchini doesn't belong on a _grill_ Stiles, it belongs on a tree where little woodland animals can feed on it like they're supposed to,"

Now _Stiles_ was the one who looked offended

".... I can't tell if you're joking or not and that terrifies me," he said honestly

"You wanna see what belongs on a grill son?" the sheriff asked with a smirk, reaching onto a big metal tray next to him and grabbing a big, fat steak that Stiles _swears_ could be used as some kind of heavy and blunt murder weapon, and plopped it down on the grill with a sickening sizzle

"THIS belongs on a grill!" he smirked, snapping his tongs at the younger man before reaching for some hamburger patties

"Dad, we are not _carnivores_ , we're _omnivores_ and your weird aversion to vegetables is going to put you in the ground, _where the zucchini grows_ ,"

His father only sighed heavily, setting the tongs down beside the tray and wiping his hands on his apron before putting them on his son's shoulders

"Stiles, go socialize, have _fun_ , this is a party! Go enjoy it, BELIEVE me, you've cooked enough, now give me the reins and go relax,"

"But-!"

"Or else that _entire_ pack of bacon is going in my mouth before the food is even ready,"

Stiles wrinkled his nose, peering over his father's shoulder and noting with frustration that the bacon was already on the grill, there wasn't really any way to grab it and run, especially without burning himself...

"Stiles, _go_ ,"

Begrudgingly, face still scrunched up in annoyance, he trekked towards the other guests and started looking around for someone- _anyone_ to talk to

These department cookouts had been happening every year since before Stiles was even born so it was safe to say that he was used to them by now, especially since he started to actually attend them as he got older, the problem was that he wasn't _actually_ a member of the sheriff's department

More like... _honorary_

He consulted for them from time to time and that was apparently enough- well, combined with him being the son of a sheriff- to get him invited to the department cookout

But honestly... just because he was familiar with the department, it didn't really mean he was familiar with the people in it

There had been alot of changes in staff lately and he saw more and more new faces, and more and more faces that weren't at all interested in seeing him

Even worse, what people _did_ know him were, mostly, not really the kind of acquaintances that you just went up and had a casual conversation with, especially since so many of them just saw him as the sheriff's troublemaking son...

And the one person he DID really connect with, Deputy Parrish, wasn't there for some reason, probably on a date....

He and Stiles' freind Lydia were sort of a thing and since Lydia went to college several hours away they used all the time they had when she was home to spend time together

That left Stiles... kind of alone

Everybody else was already talking to people they worked with, people they knew well (or atleast somewhat well) and Stiles...

Stiles was alone

Wich was really no different than usual, Stiles felt like he was _always_ alone, especially as of lately

So he did the same thing he always did when he was alone and bored or frustrated- he found a place to sit in the grass, raked his fingers along the blades, and watched the flowers bloom

 

~+~

 

He was not happy about this

In general, he actually liked his job, and he liked the people he worked with, he didn't really _know_ anyone yet in the way of seeing a movie together or going to someone's wedding, but he knew almost everyone by name

So it really wasn't that he had anything against anyone from the sheriff's station, it was just....

Social settings

He wasn't _good_ with social settings, especially with people he didn't know very well and more especially in somewhat large, completely casual social settings

Atleast if it was some kind of black-tie event he could nod and smile and being quiet would probably be more of a benefit, but in a literal backyard cookout....

He felt like a fish out of water

Still, he had promised his sister that he would give this a shot

He had promised that he would spend atleast two hours here, try to get to know people a little bit better, try to ... make some freinds or something

Now that he was back in his hometown, back where he was hoping to _stay_ , he needed to try a little harder to have a personal life, atleast that was what his sister had said...

_"Just two hours, and I promise I'll get off your back for the next two months, **please** Derek?"_

He knew that she meant well, she wasn't trying to make him be more social for no reason, she was legitimately concerned for his health and wellbeing, for his happiness most of all, and she knew that isolating himself wasn't going to make him happy

"Two months Laura... you'd better hold to that," he said with a soft sigh

It looked like this was going to be an incredibly boring, lonely afternoon, as everyone else seemed to be in their own conversations with other people, and Derek had never been one to just jump into a random conversation that had already started

It was fine though, he was used to that sort of thing, it didn't surprise or bother him (much) anymore

What struck him by surprise though, was hearing someone speaking to him

"You know you're standing on my flowers right?"

Immediately, Derek looked down and took a few steps back, noting that, indeed, there were a few smashed flowers right where his feet had been

He didn't even remember wandering this far into the yard actually.... no wonder he wasn't paying attention to the flowers....

"Sorry," he said a second later, only then noticing that the man he was talking to... was sitting on the ground, weaving flowers together...

"Are you ... making a flowercrown?"

Surely that couldn't be rig-

"Yeah! I'm surprised you recognized it,"

"Because I don't look like the kind of person who would know anything about flower crowns?" he guessed, eyebrows raised

He wouldn't be offended if that was the case, everyone just assumed that since he was bigger and more muscular and hairier that he didn't have any kind of se-

"Actually, it's because no one ever knows what I'm doing," the stranger winked back playfully

That made Derek turn a light shade of pink, feeling embarrassed for the way he had just ... _assumed_...

"So you just... carry around wire and floral tape wherever you go?" he asked with a tilt of his head, legitimately curious

Of all the things he may have expected to see (or perhaps not expected to see?) at this cookout, he had to admit, the thought of flowercrowns never even crossed his mind

"Nope, benefits of being a faery, I don't need that sorta thing, I can make REAL flowercrowns without needing anything but the flowers, and I can grow flowers pretty much anywhere that has grass,"

A ... _faery_?

"I'm guessing you didn't know that I knew you were a werewolf huh?"

And here Derek thought that the faery thing would be the most surprising thing from this conversation...

"Wondering how I knew? Don't worry about it, most of my freinds are werewolves so I know how to pick up on little things, that and my dad was telling me that he has a new deputy who's a werewolf,"

And on the list of people he didn't think knew he was a werewolf....

"Don't worry, we're not gonna spill your secret or anything, hunters come after faeries too remember?"

"I never thought you would, I'm just... surprised, I guess," he admitted slowly

The sheriff hadn't said or indicated to him at all that he knew the big hairy secret, but then he supposed that- unlike his son- he was trying to give him some space and be respectfull of his boundaries

Or something

"Sorry, didn't mean to burst that bubble for you," the stranger shrugged back, setting his work-in-progress crown aside for the moment and holding his hand out in greeting

"I'm Stiles, by the way, you busy?"

"Um... Derek, and no, I'm really not," the wolf answered, shaking the faery's hand gently before sitting down in the grass next to him

"Yeah, it's kind of a ... cliquey type of thing going on around here huh? I mean I thought it was just me since I don't work at the department but I guess the new guy is getting the shaft too- no pun intended,"

Derek had been in quiet agreement... right up until that last part where he turned a vibrant shade of pink

"It makes sense, people who have worked together for several years, in an occasionally high-stressed job, they're bound to develop favored relationships,"

"Yeaaaaaaaah... except the thing is that not too many of these people _have_ been working together for that long, alot of these people are newer, like... a year to three years, we had a big wave of people retiring and moving away a few years ago and then another wave of new people coming in over the last three years, it's mostly stopped now but you're the last straggler to get in on it I guess,"

So some of these people were almost as new as he was....

Great....

"It's still cliquey though, you know, most of these people are local, lived here their entire lives, went to the same academy, that sorta thing, and you've been gone for... what? Seven or eight years? It's no real surprise that you haven't connected with people yet,"

Derek was quiet for a moment, just staring at the faery next to him with pensiveness

"You know, it's kind of terrifying that you know all of this about me, you aren't some kind of stalker are you?"

"Nah, just try to be well-informed about the community, Dad being a sheriff kinda prompts that,"

"Uh-huh," Derek replied skeptically

"I'm serious! Why are you being skeptical!?"

"Sure you are,"

Stiles rolled his eyes, clearly completely offended, before letting out a sigh and settling

"Alright, _maybe_ I remember you for another reason,"

He knew it

His family's deaths were practically state-wide news because of how severe the circumstances were, and Beacon Hills in particular had practically swarmed the situation, as the Hales had been prominent community figures

There was only one reason Stiles would remember him and that was-

"You were a great basketball star,"

Wait what?

"Um... what?"

"Yeah, I used to go to your games all the time! Man I thought you'd go _pro_ ,"

That... was considerably unexpected...

"Is that really the only reason you remember who I am?" he asked a bit skeptically

Stiles shifted a little, grabbing the flower crown he had been working on and starting to fiddle with it again

"Ok... so, I do remember you for one other reason.. but it's mostly the basketball thing,"

Derek gave a slow nod, his mouth twitching towards a smile as he watched Stiles work with the flowers, feeling... oddly light, for some reason

"So, we covered why _I'm_ sitting here on my own, but why are _you_ sitting here on your own?"

Stiles seemed social and talkative after all, not at all like Derek himself, so it confused him as to why the faery wasn't practically the life of the party

"Well like I said, I'm not part of the department, just a private detective who consults with them from time to time, so they're even less familiar with me than they are with you, especially the newer ones, and the older ones just know me as 'the sheriff's troublemaking kid' so... it isn't like I have too many fans here,"

He understood that, hell he understood it more than he really wanted to in all honesty...

"So why private detective instead of deputy then?" he asked curiously

"Alot of reasons, but wanting the freedom to investigate things my own way is one of the big ones,"

"Ah, not one for the rules then huh?"

"Not so much no," Stiles snorted with a laugh

"What a surprise," the wolf smirked back

"Well I didn't get known as the town troublemaker for no reason," he winked back

"Yeah... and how exactly DID you get known that way anyhow?"

Stiles only grinned wider, a twinkle in his eye as he plucked another flower from the ground

"Help me pick some daisies and I'll tell you the story,"

Derek felt his lips twitch upwards again, starting to pick some daisies from the ground in front of him

"This had better be a good story,"

Judging by the look on Stiles' face, he had no doubt that it would be

 

~+~

 

"You made _all_ of this? By yourself?"

"Yep,"

"In ONE morning?"

"Yep,"

" _From scratch_?"

Stiles rolled his eyes playfully, taking a bite of his cheeseburger

"You know, I get that you're surprised, but you're starting to hurt my feelings here, _yes_ , everything that didn't touch the grill is mine,"

"This is amazing... have you ever considered cooking as a career?"

"Eh... ish, but I'm not professionally trained and even if that wasn't a problem I don't do well with cooking _exotic_ things you know? So outside of some of the more basic dinners, comfort foods, that sorta thing, I'm probably gonna suck at it, plus I'm trying not to do anything that'll interfere with my PI stuff, unfortunately I don't get enough cases right now- well, not enough PAYING cases- to fully support myself so I have to work nights at a bar,"

"Something you sound _thrilled_ about," Derek noted, licking a bit of frosting from a cupcake off of his thumb

Stiles just shrugged, popping the last peice of his food in his mouth and considering how best to respond to that

"Well, the job it's self isn't bad, I just hate selling or even working with booze,"

"Not a fan?"

"To put it mildly,"

His father had sort of gone off the deep end with the alcohol several years ago, he was better now but .. Stiles didn't like the stuff, not even remotely, so selling it kind of rubbed him the wrong way

But it had the pay he needed with the kind of hours he needed in order to keep working as a P.I. during the day so he didn't have too many other choices at the moment

"Have you considered selling flowercrowns? These are ... pretty spectacular, real flowers, no wires, you can make them quickly and you can grow your own flower supply so the costs would be minimal at worst,"

Since they had started talking Stiles had made a total of four flower crowns, a pretty good record considering they had only been talking for a few hours

"Eh... I've considered it, but I don't have time to grow another business and honestly? I don't think it could build up to what I'm making at the bar, especially in the beginning,"

"I suppose that's a good point... but it would be a good supplement, especially for things like Pride Parade and Coachella,"

Stiles raised an eyebrow slowly, an amused grin on his face as he stared at his bearded companion

"You go to Pride and _Coachella_?" he asked with a small snicker

He had a hard time believing Derek enjoyed _any_ large-spanned social gathering, but _Coachella_?

He had an easier time imagining his _dad_ at Coachella

"No, I mean... I've thought about Pride a few times, but Coachella isn't my style, I've just heard about it from my sister, she had a freind who went,"

"Your sister's freind went to Coachella huh? Well aren't you adventurous?" Stiles teased playfully, earning an eye roll from the wolf

"I'm just saying, if you ever want some extra change, it might be an avenue for you to consider,"

"Yeah, that and cooking professionally right?" Stiles asked with raised brows, picking up one of the flowercrowns in front of him and gently placing it over Derek's head

"Well if you ever come across someone looking for an untrained part-time cook who can make a ton of rainbow flowercrowns, you give 'em my number ok?"

Derek smirked, almost knowingly, and picked up one of the other crowns to set over Stiles' head

"Believe me, I will,"

 

~+~

 

"I cannot believe you were gone for over five hours, what had you so interested?"

Laura was practically _preening_ , like Derek had brought home a bag of diamonds or an incredibly cute puppy or something, it made him feel an odd mix between proud and embarrassed

"I .. was talking to someone,"

"Oh really? Is this a new freind I might be hearing about?"

Honestly, Derek kind of hoped so

(Ok, more than kind of, more like definitely)

"Maybe..."

"I'm so proud of you Derek! See? I knew you could do it, you just needed to have some faith in yourself," she said excitedly, wrapping her arms eagerly around his neck and giving him a tight, squeezing hug

Derek smiled back- how could he not?- and wrapped his arms around her, hugging back for a moment before pulling away, hoping that this next part would go as well as he thought it would

"I may have done more than just that, actually,"

"Really? What do you mean?" Laura asked curiously, stepping back and tilting her head

"Well... I remembered you mentioning that you were looking for another cook to help you out at the restaurants, and I think I found one that will fit what you're looking for,"

"At a cookout in the sheriff's backyard?" Laura asked skeptically

"Turns out, his son is pretty excellent in the kitchen,"

Derek paused, noticing the glint in his sister's eyes before she even had a chance to respond

"And if you make an 'excellent in the bedroom' comment, I'm never speaking to you again,"

She held her hands up in defense, smirking as Derek stepped back towards the little not-quite-take-out bag that Stiles had given him- _"I **may** have made a little too much food..." _\- and handing it to his sister__

__He had brought an assortment of things that he really hoped would show off Stiles' skill, now he just needed her to try them_ _

__"Why is there a flower crown in here?"_ _

__Oh right.... there was also that_ _

__

__~+~_ _

__

__Three days later, Derek found out that Stiles had happened to get on an afternoon shift at the bar and decided to pay him a visit_ _

__Actually, there was a pretty specific reason why he was going on the day that he was_ _

__He hadn't been in a bar in... _years__ _

__He wasn't a drinker himself so the only reason he had ever gone to one in the first place was back in New York when Laura had wanted to try "cheesestick happy hour" (wich only happened once as it appeared that there were some things even werewolf bodies couldn't handle in excess), so being back in one now with all of the smells and sounds and things ...._ _

__It was a bit trying on his senses and he was suddenly reminded of why it was probably a good thing that he hadn't waited until night time to visit Stiles_ _

__"Derek! Hey!"_ _

__Luckily Stiles seemed pretty happy to see him_ _

__"What's up? I didn't expect you to be a bar fly, especially when you're on duty,"_ _

__He felt his lips twitch up in that familiar, freindly smirk as he sat down at the end of the bar, watching as Stiles moved around behind the counter like some sort of dance_ _

__Cleaning a glass before moving over to grab another and pour a drink, set one bottle down and grab another and then a mixer..._ _

__He may not like this job, but he was undeniably good at it_ _

__"I'm not, and I'm on lunch, I came to ask you about something,"_ _

__"It wouldn't happen to be about the job your sister just offered me, would it?" he asked knowingly_ _

__"Laura was here? I thought she would talk to you later, actually,"_ _

__Stiles seemed relatively surprised by that, but in fairness, Derek was surprised that she had already talked to him_ _

__Sure Laura had seemed enthusiastic about the food but... he supposed she was even more excited about it than she first had let on..._ _

__"What did you say?"_ _

__Stiles stared at him, as if wondering why he even felt the need to ask that_ _

__"It's a job cooking basic 'homestyle' food that doesn't even start until six o'clock, what do you THINK I said?"_ _

__"So when is your first day?"_ _

__"Monday, my last day here is Friday, works out pretty well huh?"_ _

__"It does,"_ _

__"Great, now can you order some food so you don't go back to work hungry? Or _atleast_ a soda so you can technically be a customer?"_ _

__"I'll order whatever you recommend,"_ _

__Stiles had good taste in Derek's opinion, he completely trusted the faery to give something that was atleast decent_ _

__"Oooh giving me alot of power huh?" Stiles smirked, winking at him as he grabbed a glass from the rack above him_ _

__"So you claim you came to talk to me about something that isn't related to my new job?"_ _

__"I did, how would you feel about making some flower crowns for me? I'll pay you, ofcourse,"_ _

__"Don't worry about paying, how many do you need?"_ _

__"About twenty,"_ _

__Stiles paused, the soda gun in his hand positioned over an ice filled glass, eyebrows raised and a curious look on his face_ _

__"Ok.... forget what I said about not paying me,"_ _

__"Name your price," Derek grinned, nodding to Stiles as he set the glass of coke down in front of him_ _

__"Mmm.... five bucks a crown,"_ _

__"Done,"_ _

__"So... what the hell do you need twenty crowns for anyway? Change your mind about Pride? 'Cause that's not till June,"_ _

__Derek shook his head, sipping on the coke as Stiles started typing an order into the computer behind the bar, likely _his_ order, or rather, whatever Stiles was deciding to order for him_ _

__"Laura is getting married, she liked your flower crown so much that she wants some for the wedding party, but I told her I'd talk to you about it since I wasn't sure if you'd be open to making that many in less than a month,"_ _

__"Oh I'm TOTALLY open to it, especially if I'm getting paid," he grinned back, taking a few steps closer and leaning across the counter to smirk at the deputy_ _

__"I do have one question though,"_ _

__"Go ahead," Derek nodded, pushing his drink to the side to give the other his full attention_ _

__"Well, I was just wondering, would I... be _at_ this wedding? Not really sure how 'flower-crown maker' works in relation to jobs at the event,"_ _

__"You can come if you want,"_ _

__"And.... could I bring a date?"_ _

__Derek's eyebrows raised, and admittedly, a slight pinch of disappointment flushed through him, but he wasn't going to be _that_ guy so..._ _

__"If you want,"_ _

__"Could... _you_ be my date?"_ _

__Disappointment officially gone_ _

__"If you want," he smiled back, his voice dropping a little lower as he leaned further across the counter_ _

__"I _definitely_ want," Stiles purred back, snapping his fingers as a flower suddenly appeared behind Derek's ear_ _

__Derek had a feeling he was going to spend the rest of his life covered in flowers, but somehow, he was pretty ok with that_ _


End file.
